Here is our neighbor and his addition work to his house. He is turning his back patio into 2 rooms. He is creating a sitting room with a wood stove and a mud room all by himself. He works fast and it is always fun to see his progress. We are impressed how well it is being built and the speed of it all. It is great having skilled neighbors around us out here in the Ozarks.
Eventually we want to have a draft horse on our farm. We have Fox Trotters and they are great. But there is nothing like riding a giant horse around. So we are looking at ads, listings, asking friends about a draft horse. We want a Percheron but a Clydesdale or any draft with feathered feet and broke to ride is what we want. There are a lot of Haflingers and draft mixes in Missouri, but they are too short around 15 hands. We want at least 17 hands and lots of fur on the feet. We saw some at auction but they were in bad shape. We would have to get them back up to weight and lots of vet work. And they were not broke to ride. So we are looking and taking our time. We have a friend who has several geldings from WI at auction and moved them here. They are such gentle giants. She rides her giants in the cooler months. One day we might get to ride our own draft in the snow, too.
These are blocks a friend made after one lesson from me. I have to give her credit for the difficult medium of cotton knit. But she was able to make soft sturdy blocks into the cathedral windows pattern. She is making it for a gift to a loved on. She loves the idea of not having to quilt the blocks. Just join the finished blocks and you are done. The quilt is soft and machine washable to boot.
When the winds blew down this neighbors tree last weekend it opened his fence. And his pasture cows could escape the loose barbwire. What to do? Why just pull a few strands of new barbwire across the tree and you are good to go. No need to bother with the tree. It is called "good 'nuff ".
Today our sick duck quacked us awake and ate her food. She got some lap time and walk around time in the den. We realized she is strong and ready to rejoin the flock. Alan took her outside where she was greeted with quacks, questions and food eating. Her gang missed her and they had a lot to talk about. Tonight she will get her 2nd injection from me before bed role call. We have learned that Indian Runner ducks are very noisy to have in the house. They quack all the time. I am glad she is now outside.
I came inside the house after feeding our farm animals to find our sick ducks indoor cage was empty. Knowing she is not a Houdini duck I suspected husband fowl play. And I was right! He had taken the duck upstairs into his office. There they both were at the computer happy as could be. Seems our sick duck enjoys the warm lap and the bright sunshine in his office. Our sick duck is breathing better today. I gave her a shot for the 1st time today and we both survived it.
Last week our neighbor got to uproot some old non fruiting peach trees with his tractor. He was hampered by the wire, siding, bus lights and junk entwined into the trunks of these trees and roots. It took time picking up all the trash that killed these trees. Now that these unhealthy trees are gone you can see the garage, barn and pastures. There is now a view of a spectacular oak trees.
This week we were moving dirt around our neighbors place and up walked a fawn. She was not too afraid of us working so close to the high grass with two tractors. After looking us over she bound off into the high grass and forest. It was nice to see wildlife in the middle of the day. One of the joys of living in the Ozarks.
This past Sunday we had very high winds and rain storms. The wind tore off the roof of our city hall and police station. Several trees were blown down on houses, fences, and out buildings. We lost power for a day. Within hours we saw our power company working hard to get the power going again. We are so lucky to have such great linemen out here in the Ozarks. The linemen are kind, hard working and very caring of our town and our people.
Hercules had the fifth labor of cleaning the Augean stables. He used a river to flush out the stables. Today we helped our neighbor clean the years of goat manure left in a barn. He bought a property where the previous owners never cleaned their goat barn. This old manure is wonderful for our gardens but a pain to move. We used both our tractors to haul out tons of at least 30+ loads of manure. And we still have about that much left to do. You can see the manure level as rust on the sheet metal. It is about 4 feet deep in spots in this barn. Our neighbor is also replacing the broken sheet metal to save this barn. It will be usable once the manure is removed and the floor leveled. This is a herculean task but the weather is helping. Dry manure is easier to move than the wet stuff. After this there is a second barn to do. And Hercules only had only one stable to clean.
This year I was able to can whole tomatoes for the first time. My friend gave me instructions on how she cans tomatoes in a hot bath. I do not have a pressure canner. I also got to make a batch of sweet banana peppers too. The leftover tomatoes I sliced and dehydrated to save for snacking and meals over the winter. This has been a productive season for my canning skills. I am looking forward to apples and pears for jams and sauces in the fall.
